Safety is the primary goal of any motorist while changing or replacing a car battery, just like you would when doing any sensitive repair of the car. Whether you are new to cars or not, it is imperative to know how to do the battery replacement without many mishaps.
Firstly, it is always important to check the lifespan of your battery to ensure that it is in good condition. You don’t want to be using an old battery, thinking that the car system is the problem when actually it is not.
Am assuming in this case you always have in your car booth, the necessary. Things like the disposable latex gloves, some water, very important, rags, battery brush, eye protective goggles, a spare charged battery and such like.
This review shows you how to optimize safety and do smart replacements of your car battery as you hit the road again. Let’s look at the steps.
Step 1:
Your car should be packed in a safe place. If you are stuck on the road, observe the local road safety measures and let everyone be aware you are fixing a problem on your car for safety reasons.
It is not advisable when changing a car battery to leave your engine on. Ensure you turn it off and the car should be on a parking brake, stable in a secure location.
Step 2:
This is your car, am sure you know how to open the booth or you know a lot about cars. Wear your gloves and open the hood but always keep your body at a distance look.
Position your blanket or any suitable material you have over the fender. You don’t want to touch any kind of acid or oils in the car while replacing the battery.
Acids can be corrosive and harmful. Additionally, you are able to avoid dirtying your clothes with the oils.
Step 3:
Disconnect the cable connections from your battery. Use a changeable wrench to let loose the nuts and bolts on the clamp.
You need to do this carefully until the cable on the negative side of the battery is loose and then put it to the side.
But if your car has a positive ground, make sure you loosen the cable with the positive sign and lay position it at a distance away from the battery. These stages can be referred to in the battery manual if this is your first time handling the changing.
Step 4:
Check again if your battery is loose and can be removed easily; otherwise, do away with anything holding it in place carefully.
Do away with the bolts or screws after it’s all loose such that you have enough space to hold firmly the battery without hand distractions as you remove it.
Be careful not to drop it since this might damage not only the battery but also the car parts, wherever it might land.
Step 5:
Once you have freed the battery from its component to a safe location, preferably, on top of a non-conductor like a piece of wood, check the tray I which the battery rests.
If you notice it is dirt, a cleanup is necessary. Probably, this is something should be a practice. Clean away any kind of deposit in this tray using a suitable detergent (check the manual) which I hope could be in your car.
You don’t want to be stopping motorists if you are on a highway or any other place, this might pose further risks of dealing with strangers. While doing the cleaning you should be in your gloves and finally let the tray dry off before doing the replacement.
Step 6:
Position your new or well-functioning battery into the tray carefully to avoid it slipping off your hand. It should be back into the same position the old one was. Check that the battery is stable.
After that, replace the cables back to the terminals as they were originally tightly. Be keen to check the negative and positive terminals are correctly in place. You can then close the hood and start your car engine to confirm that all is working properly.
Conclusion:
Keep safe the old battery or take it for recycling. Avoid throwing away; remember you need to be part of keeping our environment safe and conducive. I hope that wasn’t as hard.
Lastly, always keep learning the basics of handling your car for your safety and that of other road users.